Dara Horn was born in New Jersey in 1977 and received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University in 2006, studying Hebrew and Yiddish. In 2007 she was chosen by Granta magazine as one of 20 “Best Young American Novelists.”

Her first novel, In the Image, published by W.W. Norton when she was 25, received a 2003 National Jewish Book Award, the 2002 Edward Lewis Wallant Award, and the 2003 Reform Judaism Fiction Prize.

Her second novel, The World to Come, published by W.W. Norton in 2006, received the 2006 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, the 2007 Harold U. Ribalow Prize, was selected as an Editors’ Choice in The New York Times Book Review and as one of the Best Books of 2006 by The San Francisco Chronicle, and has been translated into eleven languages.

Her third novel, All Other Nights, published in 2009 by W.W. Norton, was selected as an Editors’ Choice in The New York Times Book Review and was one of Booklist’s 25 Best Books of the Decade. In 2012, her nonfiction e-book The Rescuer was published by Tablet magazine and became a Kindle bestseller.

Her fourth novel, A Guide for the Perplexed, was published by W.W. Norton in September 2013, and was selected as one of Booklist‘s Best Books of 2013 and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

She has taught courses in Jewish literature and Israeli history at Sarah Lawrence College and City University of New York, and currently holds the Gerald Weinstock Visiting Professorship in Jewish Studies at Harvard, where she teaches Yiddish and Hebrew literature. She has lectured at over two hundred universities and cultural institutions throughout North America, in Israel and in Australia.

She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children.

Abq Jew must also point out that the entire Horn family, may they all be happy and well, davened at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, New Jersey - where the entire Abq Jew family also used to daven.

Dara has two sisters, Ariel and Jordana,, may they live long and prosper, who are also writers, and who have been written up in The New York Times. The three sisters also have a brother who is not a writer (go figure).

ELI Talks are meant to inspire Jewish people to become active participants of Jewish life and community – they are the starting point for new dialogue and exploration within the Jewish community.

The innovative ideas presented in the talks provide food for thought, sparking follow up discussions and activities that encourage investment in Jewish life.

In her ELI talk, Dara Horn submits that the Book of Eicha (Lamentations) is the source of Jewish understanding about anti-Semitism, but that a more appropriate text for today may be the Book of Job.

Ms Horn introduces her subject by talking about her children and Doctor DeSoto, one of their beloved bedtime stories. She shows the connection between Dr Desoto’s story and the archaic, "Eicha (Lamentations)" concept of anti-Semitism - in which it's all our fault.

At the close of her talk, Ms Horn suggests that not Eicha, but rather Job should be the foundational text for Jewish thinking on anti-Semitism.

Program Notes: Certified Thanatologist Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death ®, will speak about her favorite subject at TEDxABQ on September 12. Learn more here.And if you have an inspired idea that could change the Jewish community as we know it - you might think about preparing your own ELI Talk. Learn more here.

There We Sat; There We Wept: As we prepare to begin our observance of Tisha b"Av, there are many web sites that offer lists of the tragedies that have befallen the Jewish People on this day and explanations of why these terrible things have happened.

Here is what Abq Jew has learned over the years, from many different sources:

One reason for the destruction of the Second Templewas sinat hinam - causeless hatred; and one thing that can bring the Messianic Age is ahavat hinam - causeless love.

Until then, we mourn - for the way things are, for the way things might have been. And each of us mourns in his or her own way - even with music. No, music is not the Tish b"Av tradition.

I agonized over this. We’re now in the nine-day mourning period approaching Tisha B’Av. Music is not appropriate. Can we observe by listening to music of the season? Well, I decided to go with it. It’s for those who haven’t thought of observing the mourning period, to get you in the mood.

The first number couldn’t be anything but “Al Naharot Bavel,” By the Waters of Babylon. The words are from Psalm 137 and tell of the exiles weeping after the destruction of the First Temple on the ninth of Av, 586 BCE: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion.” This is the classic version many of us remember, performed by Basya Schechter.

To Traditional Shabbat Observance:Abq Jew would like to apologize to his loyal readers who believed, up until this very moment, that this was going to be a Jewish review of the famous 1935 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Abq Jew downloaded this table from the Facebook page of Rebbetzin Rivkah Wittenstein of Kol BeRamah, a traditional Orthodox synagogue in Santa Fe. He then Sephardicized it and placed it within a border. Is it not splendiferous?

The Table of the 39 Avot Melacha is, of course, a take-off on the Periodic Table of the Elements

In the Mishnah, the Rabbis enumerated 39 major categories (with hundreds of subcategories) of labor that were forbidden (avot melakhah) based on the types of work that were related to the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, which ceased on the Sabbath (Shab. 7:2).

The chiddush (innovation) of the Table of 39 is that it color codes the primary subcategories of forbidden work. For MyJewishLearning.com further tells us that

Various, 2 Columns on Right: Construction (building, demolishing), kindling a flame (lighting, extinguishing), carrying (from private to public domain, and vice versa), and putting the finishing touches to a piece of work already begun before the Sabbath.

To your average (as if there were such a thing) modern, city- or suburb-dwelling Jew, this list of 39 appears pretty easy to follow.

The Rabbis decreed that one not only should avoid forbidden acts but also must not do anything that (1) resembles a prohibited act or could be confused with it, (2) is a habit linked with a prohibited act, or (3) usually leads to performing a prohibited act.

The rabbinic enactment of measures to prevent these possibilities was termed “putting a fence around the Torah” (Avot 1:1).

Let's look at Av Melacha #1: Sowing. We're not farmers, right? So what do we have to worry about?

This: As it turns out, adding fresh water to a vase of cut flowers is prohibited on Shabbat. Why? Because the Rabbis defined "sowing" as "any activity that causes or furthers plant growth." And as the King of Siam poignantly observed

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Why oh why, Abq Jew hears you ask, would our Rabbis define "sowing" (et al) so broadly? Did they really, really have it in for us?

Abq Jew is telling you this right up front because two of his loyal readers have informed him that his blog posts are often wild or meandering. Or pointless. Or derailed, as in

Abq Jew's train of thought has been derailed.

Which assumes, of course, that

Abq Jew had a train.

A kezayit (that's a technical term) of thought had been loaded onto that train.

That train of thought had been, for at least a short period, on the rails.

When Abq Jew first began to write this blog post, he was going to start by telling you the latest news about Scarlett Johansson.

Ms Johansson has, of course, nothing to do with the topic of this blog post. But one of Abq Jew's loyal readers was concerned that the redesign of the Abq Jew Blog might mean no more Scarlett Johansson photos.

Let Abq Jew therefore assure all of his loyal readers that the photos and music and mishegas (that's another technical term) will continue until GOK (G-d Only Knows).

But Abq Jew is not going to talk anymore about Ms Johansson in this blog post.

But wait! Abq Jew hears you cry. We can't listen to music! We just observed Shiva-Asar biTammuz! It's the Three Weeks!

Abq Jew hears your cry, and is going to ignore it. Perhaps it will surprise you (or perhaps not) to learn that there is a range of rabbinic opinion about music and the Three Weeks. There are those who hold, for example, that

One cannot listen to any music at all at any time during the year.

One cannot listen to any music at all during the Three Weeks.

One cannot listen to any music at all during the Nine Days.

And there are always workarounds and exemptions - for recorded vs live music, for background (vs foreground?) music, and (of course) for professional musicians.

Robyn Adele Anderson

And then there is the perpetual issue of kol isha - a woman's [singing] voice, and the prohibition against a man listening to it.

Which of course does not mean thata man must walk around with a headset.

It means that a woman may not, must not sing in a man's presence. Or even hum where a man may be present.

So let's talk about Rap Music in general, and Jason Derulo in particular.

Now, Abq Jew does not know Jason Derulo. At all. But Wikipedia tells us

Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), better known by his stage name Jason Derulo (an alternate spelling of his name which shares the same pronunciation), is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer.

Since the start of his career as a solo recording artist in 2009, Derulo has sold over 50 million singles and has achieved ten career platinum singles, including "Wiggle", "Talk Dirty", "In My Head", and "Whatcha Say".

She is widely sought for her opinions and predictions and is regularly quoted in The New York Times, CNN.com, The Washington Post and many others, as well as a business and lifestyle writer and weekly columnist for Parade.com and contributing op-ed columnist for amNewYork.

Abq Jew would know nothing about Postmodern Jukebox were it not for Ms Weingarten, who published an article about PMJ in May. In which she said

If you find yourself underwhelmed by the Auto-Tune-heavy pop music that you hear on the radio (I tuned out some years ago), find a different way to enjoy your music.

For over a million subscribers to the PMJ channel on YouTube, this means a weekly update/blast from the past courtesy of Scott Bradlee, the brains behind Postmodern Jukebox, and a cast of both regular and evolving vocalists, musicians and other performers (tap dancers! tambourine players! a 7-foot-tall clown!).

In a nutshell, Bradlee creates retro versions of popular radio standards that run the gamut from Iggy Azalea standard “Fancy” reimagined as a flapper-inspired tune, to Kesha’s Timber transformed to a doo-wop confection. Klezmer and 1970s soul make appearances as well.

The songs are then performed live (initially in Bradlee’s apartment) by an evolving group of musicians and singers, and the videos are posted to YouTube.

OK! Here we go!

One of the songs that Postmodern Jukebox has covered is - surprise! - Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty". As PMJ explains

This week [March 2014], we decided to find out how Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty" would sound if it was written as a traditional klezmer tune.

[Singer] Robyn [Adele Anderson] even painstakingly translated the rap by 2 Chainz into Yiddish (file that one under: Things You Can Only See on the Internet).

Jane Ellen @ OASIS Albuquerque: The 4th of July is a long way from Thanksgiving (145 days this year, to be exact). So Abq Jew is pretty sure he will be the first to remind the world of the

Abq Jew here writes not of the song, but of the event (or series of events) that inspired it.

This song is called "Alice's Restaurant." It's about Alice, and the restaurant, but "Alice's Restaurant" is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song. That's why I call the song "Alice's Restaurant."

Now, the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacree (as the song is properly known) began back on Thanksgiving Day in 1965.

For those keeping score: Thanksgiving 1965 fell on Thursday (you knew that, right?) November 25, which was (unlike this year) but 144 days after the 4th of July 1965.

The Alice in the song (Wikipedia tells us) was restaurant-owner Alice Brock, who in 1964 used $2,000 supplied by her mother to purchase a deconsecrated church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts,

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago ... two years ago, on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant.

But Alice doesn't live in the restaurant; she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell tower with her husband Ray and Facha, the dog.

And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of room downstairs where the pews used to be. And havin' all that room (seein' as how they took out all the pews), they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time.

Now what, Abq Jew hears you ask, does this have to dowith the price of pastrami in Poughkeepsie?

And the answer is ... nothing much. Except that Arlo is, in fact, a dyed in the wool MOT, although the color has faded somewhat over the years. As Wikipedia tells us

Arlo Guthrie was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie and his wife Marjorie Mazia Guthrie. His sister is record producer Nora Guthrie.

His mother was a one-time professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founder of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease, the disease that took Woody's life in 1967.

His father was from a Protestant family and his mother was Jewish. His maternal grandmother was renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt.

And what, Abq Jew hears you ask, has Arlo managed to accomplish in the fifty (50) years, less 144 days, between the Massacree and now? Well ... a few things.

In 1991, Guthrie bought the church that had served as Alice and Ray Brock's former home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and converted it to the Guthrie Center, an interfaith meeting place that serves people of all religions.

The center provides weekly free lunches in the community and support for families living with HIV/AIDS as well as other life-threatening illnesses. It also hosts a summertime concert series and Guthrie does six or seven fund raising shows there every year.

There are several annual events such as the Walk-A-Thon to Cure Huntington's Disease and a "Thanksgiving Dinner That Can't Be Beat" for families, friends, doctors and scientists who live and work with Huntington's Disease.

And what, Abq Jew hears himself ask, has he managed to accomplish in the fifty (50) years, less 144 days, between the Massacree and now? Well ... a few things.

He was graduated from high school. Yes, the Massacree was that long ago.

He was graduated from college. With a degree in Engineering, no less.

He was graduated from grad school. With a degree in Education, no more.

He survived more than 32 years as a worker in the technology mines.

He built the Abq Jew Blog and the Abq Jew Web and the Abq Jew App;and, most recently, helped to build the New Mexico Jewish eLink.

Which may not rank up there with Alice's Restaurant and the Guthrie Center.

But, Ken O'Hara, it ain't bad, either.

When Abq Jew ponders the knowledge and values he will pass on to his kids - he realizes that Dov and Alex have no idea who Arlo Guthrie is or what Alice's Restaurant meant to a whole generation of anti-war kids way back when.

They have never heard the song. The phrase

"twenty-seven 8 x 10 colored glossy photographswith circles and arrows and a paragraph on the backof each one explainin' what each one was"means nothing in particular to them.

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Upper West Side (of Abq, that is)

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About Abq Jew

Marc Yellin (aka Abq Jew) uses the power of the Web to bring Jewish communities together.

Marc received an M.A. in Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is an experienced Torah and Haftorah reader and a skilled instructor in Bible, Talmud, Midrash, Ethics, History, Israel, and other topics.

A recent arrival in the Land of Enchantment, Marc is a member of Congregation B’nai Israel and the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, and contributes to other Jewish and communal groups.

Marc is a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). He received his B.S. in Engineering & Applied Science from UCLA, and has won awards for writing, editing, information design, and project management.

About Abq Jew LLC

Marc and his company, Abq Jew LLC, are dedicated to uniting organizations, businesses, and individuals – those who are active and involved and those who aren’t yet – to build and strengthen the Jewish community of Albuquerque and beyond.

Abq Jew LLC is committed to using technical expertise, writing ability, Jewish knowledge, appreciation for Albuquerque, fascination with New Mexico, and love of almost all aspects of Jewish civilization to build and strengthen the Jewish community of Albuquerque and beyond.